


you can be too

by ghostfaeries



Series: birds of a feather [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Damian Wayne, Autistic Tim Drake, Brotherly Bonding, Damian Wayne-centric, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Misunderstandings, No Angst, One Shot, Platonic Cuddling, Rating for Language, Siblings, Stimming, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne Bonding, Tim Drake is a Good Brother, Tim Drake-centric, autistic author, btw if you ship the batkids with each other this is not for you fuck off, let the batkids hug 2k20, why is that not an existing tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24166258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostfaeries/pseuds/ghostfaeries
Summary: “Wait. You don’t know what autism is?”“No. That’s what I just asked you, didn’t I.” Damian said, ticked off. “Tt. You really are dense sometimes, Drake.”~Tim explains being autistic to Damian and both of them realize something
Relationships: Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Series: birds of a feather [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836946
Comments: 39
Kudos: 694





	you can be too

**Author's Note:**

> I was having a mild shutdown and this just kind of... happened. I've got tons of DC fics planned but this was never one of them. I'm currently in the midst of a Timkon fic and a Jondami one and i was literally working on the Jondami one when I got this idea and I had to let it out so uh yeah  
> I relate to both Tim and Damian a lot so I adore the autistic headcanon for them. Let them be brothers dc!!!! I have to do everything myself here.  
> IMPORTANT NOTE: If you ship any of the batkids, don't read my work. They're siblings and it makes me incredible uncomfortable when people who ship them interact with me. Please leave  
> 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

“What’s that?”

Tim jumped. He hadn’t heard Damian come in, too engrossed with his work. He spun his chair around to face him. “What’s what?” He asked, his chewie falling from his mouth. 

“That... _thing_ in your mouth.” 

Tim looked down at the necklace. “Oh, this? It’s a chewing necklace.” He turned his chair back, thinking that would be enough to satisfy the kid. It wasn’t. 

“Why would you ever want to chew on a piece of silicone?” He questioned, scrunching up his nose in disdain and confusion. 

Tim sighed. He didn’t have time for this. “Do we really need to do this now?” 

“Yes.” 

“Look, brat” - Damian huffed - “I’m really not in the mood to be ridiculed for being autistic right now. Been there, done that. Come back when it’s not one in the morning and I’m not working on a case.” 

He’d hoped that would be that, but of course the Demon Child kept going. 

“Autistic? What in the hell are you talking about, Drake? Are you ill?” Damian frowned. 

Tim swivelled his chair around again, shooting Damian a glare. “Hardy-har, making fun of the disabled kid, very funny. Thanks a lot, Damian.” He shut his laptop and pushed past the kid, intending to continue working in his room. He internally cursed as he felt his weighted blanket slip from his shoulders. 

“You haven’t answered my question.” Damian said, Tim’s blanket in his hand. The little bastard. “I asked you- hey, why is this blanket so heavy?” He studied the object as if the explanation was written on it. 

“Damian,” Tim gritted through his teeth. “Give it back.” 

Damian realized he could use this to his advantage. “Not until you explain this ‘autistic’ thing.” 

Tim just stared at him, unbelieving. “Didn’t Bruce tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” 

“I just told you, Damian. I’m autistic. You know, autism? The thing you just made fun of me for? That’s why I chew on this and also why my blanket is so heavy. It’s called stimming, asshole. Now give it back so I can leave.” He yanked the blanket back. Damian let him. He honestly looked even more confused than before. 

He cocked his head. “Autism? Stimming? What’s that?” 

Tim could only gape. 

Damian crossed his arms defensively. “What.” 

“Are you shitting me right now?” 

“Why would I ‘shit’ you, Drake. That just sounds gross.” 

Tim couldn’t help himself and snorted loudly at that. “Pfft, Damian, no, it’s just an expression.” Then it dawned on him. “Wait. You don’t know what autism is?” 

“No. That’s what I just asked you, didn’t I.” Damian said, ticked off. “Tt. You really are dense sometimes, Drake.” 

“Oh.” So Damian hadn’t meant to make fun of him. He genuinely had no idea. Tim shot a glance at his watch, hesitating. It was nearing half past one. He really should just leave and go to bed, or at least continue working his case, but he already knew he’d made up his mind. 

“Okay.” He said. 

“Okay what?” 

“I’ll explain it to you.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Now, c’mon.” He started walking out of the room. 

“Where are we going?” Damian asked, hurrying after him. 

“Living room. This can take a while.” 

* * *

They had settled down onto the large couch, Tim perched on the armrest bundled up in his weighted blanket and Damian cross-legged in the middle. 

“-and stimming is “behaviour of repetitive actions or movements”” Tim quoted. “Well, that’s the official definition at least. It’s a lot broader than just movements. It can also be touching a fabric that feels nice, or chewing on something, like I was doing earlier. Voice stims are also a thing. I do something called echolalia, which is repeating a certain word or phrase. Oh, and pressure stims of course. My blanket is a weighted one. The pressure calms me down, and- what?” 

Tim cut himself off when he noticed Damian was staring at him. Specifically, he was looking at Tim’s hands with interest. 

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

Tim looked down. They were moving. Oh. He must’ve subconsciously started flapping them. 

“It’s called flapping, it’s also a stim. I do it when I’m excited. It’s an autistic thing.” 

Damian looked at him like he was just told he was getting another dog. “There’s a word for it?” He asked, his voice laced with hope. “It’s a normal thing to do?” 

Tim was thrown off for a moment. Was he...? 

“Uh, yes. It’s completely nor-” 

He was tackled to the ground by a tiny body. At first, he thought he was being attacked – wouldn't be the first time – until he realized that Damian was hugging him. Damian Wayne was _hugging him_. He lay still for a bit, stunned by this course of action. 

“Hey, uh, Dami? You kind of knocked me to the floor and my ass really hurts so if you can let me stand up, that would be nice.” He tried. Damian’s only reply was in the form of sniffling. 

Was he _crying?_

When Tim had woken up this morning, he’d never for even a second thought his day would turn out this way, with a hugging and crying little brother on top of him. 

He carefully put his arms around him, still cautious of potentially being maimed. Nothing happened when his arms made contact with Damian’s back, so he deemed it safe. He shifted the boy’s weight around until he was certain he wouldn’t drop him and slowly stood up. He moved them back to the couch, fishing his blanket from the ground and draping it over the both of them. If he was being hugged to death by a tiny demon child tonight, at least it would be someplace comfortable. 

They sat there in silence, Damian’s face smushed against the front of Tim’s hoodie, Tim rubbing circles on his back. 

“Mother always told me to have quiet hands,” He mumbled after a while. He sounded uncharacteristically vulnerable. 

Tim tensed. Quiet hands. Of course. 

“I know what that’s like. Hurts, doesn’t it?” 

Damian nodded into the fabric. 

“Don’t worry, kiddo, it’s okay.” Damian didn’t snap at him for the nickname for once. “Your hands can be as loud as you want here. No one minds.” 

Silence. Then, “Do you think I can be, too?” 

“Be what?” 

Damian looked up at him, eyes shiny. “You know. Autistic.” 

Tim smiled at him. “Of course you can.” 

The smile he got in return was blinding. 

* * *

If Bruce found his two youngest sons passed out together on the couch that morning and tucked them in, no one said anything about it. And if Tim wordlessly handed Damian a package containing a weighted blanket, a chew necklace in the shape of a sword and a fidget cube the next day, no one said anything about that either. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment telling me what you thought, if you want. I hope you liked it!
> 
> My DC tumblr blog: autistic-damian-wayne
> 
> Edit: This is part of a series now! It'll be fics with autistic Dami and Tim. I'm currently working on two fics, we'll see if there'll be more. If you're interested in more fics about these two and this concept, feel free to subscribe :D


End file.
